Pool-table rack and tally.



PATENTED MAY 19, 1908.

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m. M RR No. 728,706. I PATENTED MAY 19,1903.

' v G. F. eoss. POOL TABLE BACK AND TALLY.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7, 1902.

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*No. 728,706. I 'PATENTED M4119, 1903.

"(4.1 G0ss. POOL TABLE RACK AND TALL'Y;

APPLICATION-FILED JULY 1. 1902.

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No. 728,706. PATENTED .19, 1903.

G- F. GOSS. I

POOL TABLE RACK AND TALLY.

AIPLIOATION FILED JULY 7, 1902. v

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UNITED STATES Patented May 19, 1903.

PATENT OEFTCE.

POOL-TABLE RACK AN VTALLY.

SPECIFICATION forming partof Letters Patent N 0. 728,706, dated May 19, 1903.

Application filed July '7, 1902. Serial No. 114,663. (No model.)

To all whmn it nut-y concern.-

Be it known that I GEORGE FRANK Goss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wallaceton,in the county of Olearfield and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Pool-Table Rack and Tally, of which 7 l drawings, and particularly pointed out in the the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in devices of that class employed for automatically receiving and racking poolballs as they are driven into the pockets of the table, and has for its principal object to provide an improved rack and tally which may be readily and positively adjusted by the players to discharge a pocketedball into any desired rack.

-A still further object of the invention is to so construct the rack and its doors or lids that the opening of any one door will automatically close any other door or doors which may be opened and in which when desired all of the doors may be closed from any point along the table in the event of a player making a scratch or pocketing a wrong ball,which must be immediately returned to the table.

A still further object of the invention is to so construct and arrange the rack-adjusting devices that they may be operated by the player from either side or end of the table and to further arrange such adjusting devices in such manner as to display the number of the rack open at the time.

A still further object of the invention is to so arrange and construct the manually-operated adjusting devices that the movement of any one of such devices will immediately restore all of the others to operative position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a convenient form of rack which may be readily removed from position and emptied at the conclusion of a game and which,while normally maintaining the balls safely in position, is so arranged that any desired ball may be readily extracted from the rack.

A still further object of the invention is to provide suitable runways for the balls, to the end that the travel from each pocket to the rack will be substantially the same without regard to the distance of the rack from the pocket and in all cases allowing sufficient time between the pocketing of a ball and its arrival at the rack to close all of the rackdoors.

doors when it is desired to prevent the entrance of a pocketed ball to the rack.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view, partly in the nature of a diagram, illustrating a pool-table provided with a rack and tally constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through a portion'of the table. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation of one of the manually-operated pushbuttons for adjusting the rack-doors. Fig. 4 is a similar view of a portion of one of the rack-doors. Fig. 5 is a sectional perspective view illustrating, on an enlarged scale, the arrangement of one of the sets of levers connecting a push-button and rack-door. Fig. 6 is a similar view illustrating a portion of the mechanism for closing all of the rack- Fig. 7 is a detail view of a portion of the circuit-closing device for sounding an alarm each time a ball is racked. Fig. Sis a view illustrating a pair of ball-racks, one being shown in section and the other in elevation.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of'the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates an ordinary form of pool or other table having pockets, as 11, into which the balls are driven during the course of the game. At one end of the table are one or more racks 12 for the reception of the balls, the several pockets on each side of the table being connected to said racks by runways of the character more clearly shown in Fig. l. The runways 15 lead directly from the pockets at that end of the table farthest from the rack in a direct line to the tubes 14, which direct the balls to the rack or racks from the runway. As the side pockets are somewhat nearer to the racks than the end pockets referred to, said side pockets are connected to the runway 13 by a trough or runway 15, having a reverse curve which will tend to retard the movement of the ball to an extent sufficient to prevent its arrival at the rack in less time than a ball from one of the end pockets. In similar manner the pockets at that end nearest to the rack are connected to the main runway by rearwardly-extending and curved runways 16,also arranged to retard the travel of the pocketed ball. By thus preventing any quick travel of the ball from a pocket to the rack suflicient time is allowed to permit the closing of all of the rack-doors in the event of a player making a scratch or pocketing a wrong ball, and when all of the rack-doors are closed the ball so pocketed will rest on top of the doors in a convenient position to be returned to the table.

The ball-racks, of which there may be any desired number, are in the form of rectangular boxes 12, divided by. partitions 17 into any desired number of compartments, each having an open top and provided at the bottom with a cushion 18 for preventing injury to the balls. The sides of the rack are grooved for the reception of pins or lugs 19 on or forming part of an auxiliary frame 20, secured to one end of the table, and each rack is provided with a handle 21 for convenience in the removal of the rack from position when it is desired to rearrange the balls, at the conclusion of a game. Each rack may be provided with any desired number of ball-receiving compartments each bearing a different numher and one compartment being employed for the reception of the balls of each player. In the present instance I have shown two racks each provided with three com partments,which will be found sufficient for ordinary purposes, it being unusual for more than six persons to play a single game.

In the front wall of each rack are elongated openings 22, arranged one in front of each compartment, the side walls of the opening being scalloped to present alternate enlarged and contracted portions, the enlarged portions being of a size sufifiicient to permit the withdrawal of a ball from the rack. The contractcd portions are less than the diameter of a ball, and when the latter are in position in the compartment the central portion of each ball is immediately opposite one of the contracted portions and accidental discharge of a ball through the enlarged portion of the opening is prevented. If for any reason a player desires to extract a ball from the rack, the ball may be raised to the enlarged portion of the opening and readily withdrawn.

Secured to or forming part-of the auxiliary frame is a transverse bar 24, having bearings for the support of a transversely-disposed rock-shaft 25, to which are secured trippingdogs 26, each having an approximately horizontal rearwardly-extending arm 27 and a vertically-extending arm 28. To the rear end of the arm 27 is pivoted an auxiliary block or dog 29, having an upper flat face which at times is engaged by a plate or bar 30 on one of the rack-doors 31. The forward end of the block 29 is provided with a slot and fits loosely over the rock-shaft 25. The rock-shaft extends for the full-width of the racks and is provided with a dog 26 and block 29 in alinement with each of the rack-doors.

The rack-doors 31 are arranged one above each of the ball-receiving compartments, and when all are closed they form a continuous runway between the opposite tubes 14, forming the terminals of the runways 13, the surfaces of said doors being grooved to prevent the balls falling to the ground. On the bar 24 are secured a number of standards 33 for the support of pivot-pins 34, secured to the rear end of each door, and each door is provided with separate pivot-pins and is movable independently of the other doors. When in closed position, the door rests in the recessed upper bar 20 of the auxiliary frame 20. At the rear of each door is a lower plate 30, previously described, and to the upper face of each door is secured a plate 36, bent at an obtuse angle and serving as a stop to limit the opening movement of the door by contact with the rear face of the door-operating lever 37.

To a portion of the frame 20 is secured a transverse bar 38, on which are independently pivoted a series of operating-levers 37, of which there is one for each of the doors 31. When these levers receive motion in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5, they engage the plate 30 and move the door to open position, the plate 30 being moved into contact with the rear of the arm 28, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. During the first part of the opening movement .of the door the plate 30 comes into contactwith the upper surface of the block 29, exercising a cam ming action on the latter and slightly rotating the rock-shaft 25 through the medium of the dog 2 This occurs when any door is opened and resultsin the movement of all of the dogs 28 to the rear. Should any of the doors be in open position, with the plate 30 in contact with the rear face of the arm 28, the movement of the rock-shaft resulting from the opening movement of another door will bringthe arm 28 into working contact with the plate 30, moving the latter to the rear and shifting or tilting the door 31 until it has moved beyond a vertical line and falls by gravity to closed position. In this manner the opening of a door by one player will immediately close a door opened by a preceding player and the balls lodged within the proper compartment. In similar manner provision is made for rocking the shaft from an independent source for closing all of the doors and preventing the entrance of a pocketed ball to any of the compartments. This is accomplished by means of an auxiliary lever 40, mounted on the rod 38 and adapted to engage a block 41, secured to the rockshaft, the leverreceiving motion in the manner hereinafter described to impart rotative movement to the shaft and through the arm 28 of dog 26 close any door which may be open.

The lever-operating mechanism for open ing the doors is positive in its character and so arranged that any desired lever may be operated from either endoreither side of the table. At each side and each end of the table are arranged a series of push-buttons of a number equal to the number of compartments in the rack, with an additional or zero button for closing all the doors. The button mechanism comprises in each instance a cylindrical casing 51, seated in an opening 52 in the table, said casing serving as a support for a pivoted lever 53, the lower arm of which is provided with a slot 54, having at its upper end an enlarged opening for the passage of the head of a connecting-rod 55. In connecting the rod and lever the end of the rod is passed through the enlarged portion of the slot, and a groove 56 near the end of the rod is then interlocked in the contracted lower portion of said slot, forming a convenient means of assembling the parts. The lever 53 is pivotally connected to an arm 58, carrying the button 50, the latter being arranged at the surface of the table and each button being provided with a different designating character, such as a numeral or letter, and all of the buttons being in plain view, so that the players or other persons near the board may readily see which of the pockets is open for the reception of the balls. To further indicate the number of the compartment in open position, the lower end of the lever 53 is provided with a button 59, which is pushed outwardly through a short tubular casing 60 in the side wall of the table, said button hearing a corresponding designating-mark and being exposed flush with the vertical wall of the table when the door to which it is connected is open. By thus prominently displaying the number of the open compartment at eight difiercnt points on the table players are prevented from placing balls in other than the proper compartment.

Extending transversely of the table are two parallel bars 65, having bushings or bearings 66 for the reception of a plurality of parallel rods 67, arranged longitudinally of the table and of a number equal to the number of buttons at each side and end of the table. One of the cross-bars is further provided with a plurality of brackets 68 for the reception of T-shaped levers 69, the upper and lower ends of which are provided with swiveled blocks 70, having openings for the reception of connecting-rods, and each block being provided with a set-screw 71, by means of which the positions of the rods may be adjusted and all of the connections made positive. The several rods 55 lead from the lower ends of the levers 53 at the rack end of the table through the swiveled blocks at the upper end of the levers 69, and from the blocks at the lower ends of said levers lead connecting-rods 72 to the door-operating levers 37, one of such rods being connected to the lever 40, which actuates the rock-shaft to elfect a contact with an entering ball.

closing movement of all. of the doors. The push-buttons at that end of the table opposite the racks are connected by rods 73 to swiveled blocks 74, carried by the lower ends of the levers 69, so that the movement of the buttons at this end of the table will operate the compartment door and will move the push and display buttons at the rack end of the table through the medium of the rods 72 and 55.

On each of the shafts 67 is secured an arm 73, having an opening for the reception of the central arm of the T-shaped lever 69 or otherwise connected to the lever in such manner that a rocking movement of the shaft 67 will operate through the lever 69 to open any desired door and move the corresponding push and display buttons. To each shaft 67 is secured an upperiarm 75, carrying a swiveled block 76, connected by rods 77' to the push-buttons at the lower side of the table, as shown in Fig. 1, and to each shaft is further secured a depending arm 78, bearing a swiveled block 79, connected by rods 80 to the push-buttons at the upper side of the table. (Shown in Fig. 1.) All of the push-buttons bearing corresponding designating-marks are connected for mutual movement, the depression of any one of said buttons resulting in the opening of the proper door and the depression of all of the buttons bearing a corresponding designating-mark and a forcing out of the similar display-buttons on the vertical walls of the table.

In order to sound an alarm each time a ball is deposited in a compartment, I employ a rock-shaft 84, adapted to suitable bearings in the auxiliary frame 20 and having an arm or finger extending into the upper portion of each of the compartments and adapted for The rockshaft is included in an electric circuit comprising a battery 86 and an alarm 87, one terminal of the circuit being formed by a contact-arm 88, carried by the rock-shaft, and the other by a stationary contacts-block 89. Each time a' ball enters a compartment it engages one of the fingers 85 and effects a movement of the rock-shaft sufficient to move the arm 88 into contact with the block 89 and momentarily establish the circuit and sound the alarm, the circuit being automatically broken after the ball has passed the finger. When a predetermined number of balls have accumulated in any one compartment-es, for in stance, eight balls in the playing of ordinary eight-ball pool-the uppermost ball cannot descend beyond the finger, and holds the latter down, the circuit being held closed and the alarm ringing continuously until the balls are removed. 4

While the construction herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, is the preferred form of the device, it is obvious that various changes in the form, proportions, size, and minor details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is '1. In a device of the class specified, a rack having a plurality of ball-receiving com partments, an independent door for each coinpartment, a plurality of door-operating devices arranged at different portions of the table, a series of tension-rods connecting corresponding operating devices for mutual movement, and a door-opening lever conuected to and operated by the terminal rod of the series, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class specified, a rack having a plurality of ball-receiving compartments, an independently-operated door for each compartment, said door being hinged at one side and adapted to remain in horizontal closed position by gravity and in substantially vertical open position by gravity, a plurality of sets of door-operating devices arranged at different portions of the table, a series of tension-rods connecting corresponding operating devices for mutual movement and a door-operating lever connected to and operated by the terminal rod of the series.

3.. In a device of the class specified, a ballrack having a plurality of ball-receiving compartments, an independently-operated door for each compartment, push-buttons arranged in sets and those of each set being connected for mutual andsimultaneous movement, said push-buttons being arranged on the upper surface of the table, auxiliary display-buttons connected to the push-buttons and adapted to be exposed through openings in the side walls of the table, and means for connecting each set of buttons to a separate door.-

et. In a device of the class specified, a ballrack having a plurality of ball-receivin g compartments, an independently-operated door for each of said compartments, push-buttons arranged in sets at different points on the table, levers pivotally connected to the pushbuttons, a three-armed pivotally-mounted lever, rods extending from said lever to two series of push-buttons arranged at opposite ends of the table, a door-operating lever, a tensionrod connecting the same to the three-armed lever, a rock-shaft, rocker-arms carried thereby and connected to additional series of pushbuttons, and an arm carried by said shaft and connected to said three-armed lever. I

5. In a device of the class specified, a ballrack having a plurality of ball-receiving compartments, an independently-operated door for each of said compartments, push-buttons arranged in sets, a series of rock-shafts, rocker-arms secured to each shaft, tensionrods connecting the rocker-arms to oppositelydisposed series of push-buttons, a pivoted lever operatively connected to the rock-shaft, tension-rods connecting said lever to pushbuttons arranged at opposite ends of the table, dooroperating levers, and tension-rods connecting the same to the said pivoted levers.

6. In a device of the class specified, a plurality of ball-receiving compartments, a pivoted door for each compartment, and means for mutually connecting thedoors to effect a closing movement of one on the opening movement of another door.

7. In a device of the class specified, a plurality of ball-receiving compartments, a pivoted door for each compartment, independent mechanism for efiecting the opening move ment of each door, and means for connecting all of the doors to automatically close one or more doors on the opening movement of another door.

8. In a device of the class specified, a plurality of ball-receiving compartments, a piv* oted door for each compartment, a rear- Wardly-extending plate carried by each door, arock-shaft, pivoted dogs carried by the rockshaft and adapted to be engaged by said plate on the opening movement of the door and to engage said plate to effect a closing movement of the door, and an operating-lever for independently moving each of the doors to open position.

9. In a device of the class specified, a rack having a plurality of ball-receiving compartments, an independently-operated door pivotally mounted above each compartment, a rearwardly-extending plate carried by said door, an operating-lever adapted to engage said plate to move the door to open position, a rock-shaft common to all of the doors, dogs secured to said rock-shaft and adapted to be engaged by said plateon the opening movement of the door and to engage with the corresponding plate of an open door to move the latter to closed position, substantially as specified.

10. In a device of the class specified, a rack having a plurality of ball-receiving compartments, an independently-operated door for each compartment, a pair of rearwardly-extending plates carried by each door, an operating-lever adapted to engage said plates, a rock-shaft, a dog carried by the rock-shaft at a point to the rear of each door and adapted to engageone of said plates, and a block pivotally mounted on said dog and adapted to be engaged by said platoon the opening movement of. the door, substantially as specified. 11. In a device of the class specified, a rack having a plurality of ball-receiving compartments, an independently-operated door for each compartment, means for opening each of said doors, and mechanism common to all the doors for moving the same to closed position.

12. In a device of the class specified, a rack having a plurality of ball-receiving compartments, an independently-operated door for each compartment, a rock-shaft extending in a line adjacent to all of the doors, door engaging and closing dogs carried by said rockshaft, and means for operating said rockshaft to move all the doors to closed position.

lIO'

IIS

13. In a device of the class specified, a pooltable having ball-receiving pockets, a ballthe rack, said connecting runways being rearwardly extended before connecting with the 15 main runways in order that balls deposited in any pocket may occupy the same length of time in traveling from the pocket to the rack.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmysignature in 20 the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE FRANK GOSS.

Witnesses:

W. I. Sworn, BENJAMIN F. CHASE. 

